At Home With...

Couple turn old bakery into residence, studio

Artist Pamela Scesniak and her husband, Denny Rauen, who restores guitars, have woven their creative touches into a combined home and studio in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. They live in a building that is 125 years old that for 110 of those years housed four different bakeries.

The garden was once part of the parking lot for the building. The horse on the garage wall is made from planks of wood that were from a pier at the vacation home of Pamela Scesniak's father.

A former parking lot has been turned into a garden.

A wooden horse made from an old pier at a vacation home belonging to Pamela Scesniak's father adorns a wall of the garden in the couple's backyard. The garden area was once part of the parking lot that came with the building.

Restoring backyard deck Laura Burns taking a peek

Thomas Burns

More restoring backyard deck

Thomas Burns

Restore backyard deck

Jessica Marine

Great Room in Merton

Kitchen Photos

Kitchen Photos

Kitchen Photos

Kitchen Photos

Kitchen Photos

Gretchen Theisen

This three-season porch was built in 1918 in Bay View. The house was on the 2004 Bay View Homes Tour by the Bay View Community Center. It was called the sleeping porch as the only air conditioning during that time was the breeze through its 12 leaded-glass arched windows.This photo was taken in 2004 by the owner. "It's my mental sanctuary," she says.(Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I just LOVE my porch! I'm submitting two photos in case one is better than the other. Thanks!) :)

Gretchen Theisen

This three-season porch was built in 1918 in Bay View. The house was on the 2004 Bay View Homes Tour by the Bay View Community Center. It was called the sleeping porch as the only air conditioning during that time was the breeze through its 12 leaded-glass arched windows.This photo was taken in 2004 by the owner. "It's my mental sanctuary," she says.(Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I just LOVE my porch! I'm submitting two photos in case one is better than the other. Thanks!) :)

The Washington Heights home of Ann and Paul Widen.

Artist Pamela Scesniak and her husband, Denny Rauen, who restores guitars, have woven their creative touches into a combined home and studio in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. They live in a building that is 125 years old that for 110 of those years housed four different bakeries.

Denny Rauen likes to point out that he and his wife, Pamela Scesniak, did a "reverse Joni Mitchell" after they bought their home in the Riverwest neighborhood 13 years ago.

Instead of "paving paradise and putting up a parking lot," as Mitchell sings in her song "Big Yellow Taxi," they removed an 11-car parking lot and turned the area into a garden paradise.

But that wasn't the only area of their home that ended up on a high note.

They also turned the dilapidated and unattractive 125-year-old building — a former bakery — into a striking place to live and work.

Rauen said they first bought the building in 2000 to house his business, Rauen Guitars. He specializes in restoration, repair and modification of new and vintage string instruments, and also custom-makes guitars. He also is a musician.

After spending two years working on the new site, they decided they also would make it their home — as well as a place for Scesniak to work. So they spent another year working on the building, then moved from their Whitefish Bay condo to Riverwest in 2003.

Today, in addition to Rauen's workspace on the first floor, Scesniak, an artist, art teacher and musician, has space on the third floor for her artwork and spaces inside and outside the building for her music. Their living quarters are on part of the third floor and on the second floor.

But the home wasn't the only thing that improved over time.

Rauen said when they first bought the building, their neighborhood wasn't great, but that they both believed it was turning around.

"It was my gut feeling. I know the area to some degree and knew a lot of people living here," he said. "Pamela lived here for quite a few years about 20 years ago and liked it, too. It's very much an artist community.

"I knew others were investing in businesses here, and we felt that a lot of real quality individuals were moving into the neighborhood, and we wanted to be a part of it."

And they were right. Today, their home is just one of many well-tended houses in their neighborhood.

It's also an area with lots of striking gardens.

Their yard, and 14 others, will be opened to the public Sunday in the Riverwest Secret Garden Tour. (The garden tour does not include tours of the homes' interiors.)

In their green spaces, Rauen designed and built a brick walkway and also designed (and built part of) a two-level deck that gives great views of their neighborhood and their garden.

Scesniak then planted a pine tree, 17 dwarf or columnar evergreens, a large variety of hydrangeas, rose bushes and other plants. Then she decorated the area with trellises, benches, and a one-dimensional, life-size Belgian draft horse.

"About 30 years ago, I made two of these horses from old pier wood and put a platform between them to make a bed," she said. "When we moved here, I still had the horses — but I had stopped using the bed. I put this one in our garden and I gave the other to a friend for her garden."

Inside, they updated their living quarters on the second floor by removing flimsy walls that divided the space, and they also rearranged their kitchen. Rauen also designed and built a solid stairway so they could easily and safely get to the third floor. Prior to the renovation, the stairways throughout the building were steep and dangerous.

Despite all the upgrades they made inside, the most dramatic changes were made outside to the front of the building.

Because Rauen's business was there, and he wanted his shop to have the look of a small corner business from years ago, they worked with an architect to make the front façade look old yet they used modern materials to conserve energy and make the building secure.

Rauen, whose clients have included such guitar greats as Keith Richards, Buddy Guy and Leo Kottke, said they started the process by buying two gargoyles to set on either end of the roof. Then, they "worked downward," adding cedar-style cement shingles, decorative cornice brackets — including some with musical notes that Rauen made himself — large windows, and a decorative entryway.

The couple recently talked about their home.

Q. What is the history of this building?

Denny: It's about 125 years old. There were four bakeries here over 110 years. The last one was Nino's. They're now in Menomonee Falls.

Q. How large is this building and how is it laid out?

Denny: It's about 7,000 square feet, but about 5,000 of it is on the first floor where my business is. On the second floor, we have our living room, a spare bedroom/office, a bathroom and our kitchen, which accesses the deck. We also have an open area off a hallway that connects our living quarters to the business, and we can use that area as a dining room. The third floor has Pamela's studio, our bedroom, and storage.

Q. What did your second floor look like originally?

Denny: There was 1960s wood paneling. We think that earlier a family lived here, but more recently it was workspace. We rearranged the space to give a more modern loft feel. The wide plank pine floors are original. We stained them dark brown.

Q. You have unique living room carpeting. Is there a story behind it?

Pamela: It's carpeting made for ballrooms and theaters. When I saw this, I said I liked it. The salesman said, "This isn't used in homes!" I like the floral pattern and that it's industrial. It holds up to our bulldog, Theo. Also our Papillion, Marcel.

Q. You seem to have a good number of Asian pieces.

Pamela: I shop at Artasia Gallery & Museum in the Third Ward and often come home with new things. Most of our pieces in the living room are from there. We have a red lacquered armoire and antique tables.

Q. Where did you get the kimono on your living room wall?

Pamela: I lived in Japan, and I got 18 used kimonos in Kyoto. I had to buy another suitcase to bring them home. I change them. Some are more simple; some are more bold.

Q. What's your style of decorating?

Pamela: Very eclectic and bohemian.

Q. Can you describe the artist loft?

Denny: We added skylights and positioned them low on the roof for better light for Pamela's work, but also so she could look out and see the neighborhood.

Pamela: We have some antiques up here. I'm a collector. An artist's life is full of junk — but it's fun.

Q. How would you describe your music?

Denny: I perform acoustical guitar with my son, Joshua, in the Rauen Boys. We've been together for 20 years.

Pamela: I'm in The Squeezettes and we have been together six years. We have five members and have won two WAMI (Wisconsin Area Music Industry) awards. We play power polka. It's eclectic. We polka-ize all kinds of music. I also play my accordion with the Rauen Boys on occasion.

Q. Where do you practice with your band here?

Pamela: On the deck. Then, after we finish playing, sometimes our neighbors will applaud. Also in the area we use as our dining room.

Q. What kind of artwork do you do?

Pamela: I specialize in sandblasted glass, concrete and metal, and also do different kinds of painting.

Q. What do you like about living above your business?

Denny: I think it's nice to operate like they did years ago by living in the property you're working at. I like having a business that becomes part of a community.

IF YOU GO

What: Riverwest Secret Garden Tour

When: noon to 4 p.m. Sunday

Cost: Tickets/maps are $3. Available the day of the tour at the Riverwest Gardeners Market in Garden Park at the corner of E. Locust and N. Bremen streets.

Do you, or does someone you know, have a cool, funky or exquisite living space that you’d like to see featured in At Home With? Contact Fresh home and garden editor Nancy Stohs at (414) 224-2382 or email nstohs@journalsentinel.com.